Systems and methods for providing social discovery relationships

ABSTRACT

The disclosed embodiments include methods and systems for providing social discovery service operations. In one embodiment, a system for providing a social discovery service is disclosed. The system may be configured to receive transaction data relating to one or more purchase transactions involving one or more merchants and one or more consumers. The system may also be configured to receive product data identifying one or more products included in the one or more purchase transactions. The system may also receive location data associated with the one or more purchase transactions. Based on the transaction data, location data, and the product data, the system may be configured to generate one or more social discovery graphs. Further, the system may be configured to perform one or more social discovery operations based on the one or more social discovery graphs.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/089,218, filed Nov. 25, 2013 (now allowed), which claims priorityunder 35 U.S.C. § 119 to U.S. provisional patent application No.61/776,214, filed on Mar. 11, 2013, and entitled “Systems and Methodsfor Providing Social Discovery Relationships.” The disclosures of theabove-identified applications are expressly incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosed embodiments relate generally to account managementtechnologies and, in particular, to methods and systems for providingsocial discovery relationships.

BACKGROUND

New digital media and technologies are making it easier for people toform and expand their social networks. With today's ever-increasingconnectedness and prevalence of mobile devices, people are activelymaking use of social networking services as a way to form and maintainrelationships. A first generation of social networks, based onconnecting with friends and acquaintances in a location-agnostic way,has gained almost ubiquitous popularity with solutions such as Facebook®and LinkedIn® leading the way. A second generation of networks, buildingon the premise of location based social discovery, has recently gainedincreasing popularity as GPS-enabled smartphones become more prevalent.However, while the first generation of social networks enabled consumersto connect with people they already know, and the second generation hasmade location-based social discovery possible, consumers still facedifficulty in using these services to interact with and meet new peoplewith similar interests and ways of life.

For example, Foursquare® provides a platform for social discovery basedon a shared location and a profile filled into the service. Othersimilar location-based applications, utilizing real-time GPS datainstead of “check-ins,” have also emerged enabling people to meet othersnearby that share interests or ways of life (e.g., professionalinterests and affiliations, activities, social habits, preferences,etc.). A challenge with these services, however, is the reliance onself-reported preferences, habits, and characteristics. Because aperson's perception and description of self can diverge considerablyfrom actual habits and lifestyle, and often focuses mainly onaspirations, forming social ties via these services can be difficult.

SUMMARY

The disclosed embodiments provide methods and systems for providingsocial discovery processes. In one example, certain disclosedembodiments include system and processes that may provide more realisticindicators of shared interests and social compatibility based on actualconsumption and lifestyle habits of consumers. By combining real-timelocation-data with transaction data, such as, for example, credit anddebit card purchases (which may be complemented by SKU data fromparticipating merchants that may grant access to this data), certaindisclosed embodiments may build a holistic consumption and lifestyleprofile of a consumer, and help people discover others with a similarprofile in real-time.

The disclosed embodiments may provide services that are valuable to bothconsumers and merchants. For example, aspects of the disclosedembodiments may provide social experience services that make shoppingmore interactive and fun for consumers. For merchants, aspects of thedisclosed embodiments may create opportunities to build strong customercommunities, attract new highly engaged customers, and build a “shoppinggraph,” where customers are not only indentified based on theirconsumption patterns, but also based on their ties to other consumersand their habits. The disclosed embodiments may also allow merchants touse dynamic data relating to shopping habits and social connections ofconsumers to identify and target opinion-leaders in order to create abroader marketing and business opportunity ripple-effect through them.

The disclosed embodiments also provide other socially-based features,such as gifting, Peer-to-Peer (P2P) payments, group buying, groupcharity giving, and crowdfunding. For example, for gifting, certaindisclosed embodiments provide community features that may make it easierfor a consumer to decide on relevant gift ideas. For P2P payments,certain disclosed embodiments provide mechanisms that may increasestrust between consumers or other entities to facilitate payment. Forgroup buying, certain disclosed embodiments may provide information andservices that identify a more relevant audience for merchants. Moreover,for charity giving and crowdfunding, certain disclosed embodiments mayprovide information that identifies people with similar interests,investment preferences, and other charitable or crowdfundingcharacteristics.

Other aspects of the disclosed embodiments are set forth below in thisdisclosure. For example, the disclosed embodiments include a system forproviding a social discovery service including one or more memorydevices storing software instructions and one or more processorsconfigured to execute the software instructions to receive transactiondata relating to one or more purchase transactions involving one or moremerchants and one or more consumers. The one or more processors may alsoreceive product data identifying one or more products included in theone or more purchase transactions, and receive location data associatedwith the one or more purchase transaction. The one or more processorsmay also generate one or more social discovery graphs based on thetransaction data, location data, and the product data, and perform oneor more social discovery operations based on the one or more socialdiscovery graphs.

The disclosed embodiments may also include a method for providing socialdiscovery service operations. The method may include, for example,receiving transaction data relating to one or more purchase transactionsinvolving one or more merchants and one or more consumers, and receivingproduct data identifying one or more products included in the one ormore purchase transactions. The method may further include receivinglocation data associated with the one or more purchase transaction. Inone aspect, the method may also include generating one or more socialdiscovery graphs based on the transaction data; location data, and theproduct data, and performing one or more social discovery operationsbased on the one or more social discovery graphs.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory onlyand are not restrictive of the disclosed embodiments, as claimed.

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate disclosed embodiments and,together with the description, serve to explain the disclosedembodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary system consistent withdisclosed embodiments.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram of another exemplary system consistent withdisclosed embodiments.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram of another exemplary system consistent withdisclosed embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of another exemplary system, consistent withdisclosed embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary system arrangement, consistentwith disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of another exemplary system arrangement,consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an exemplary registration process, consistentwith disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an exemplary social discovery graph process,consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of exemplary social graph arrangements,consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an exemplary social discovery relationshiprequest process, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of an exemplary merchant registration process,consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of an exemplary social discovery event process,consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of an exemplary dynamic market plan process,consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of an exemplary gift recommendation process,consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of an exemplary trust level process, consistentwith disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of an exemplary crowdfunding process, consistentwith disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart of an exemplary group buying process, consistentwith disclosed embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the disclosed embodiments,examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Whereverconvenient, the same reference numbers will be used throughout thedrawings to refer to the same or like parts.

The disclosed embodiments include methods, systems, and articles ofmanufacture that are configured to provide, for example, socialdiscovery operations. For example, in certain embodiments, a user mayregister with a social discovery service to request and receive socialdiscovery information. In certain embodiments, a financial serviceprovider, such as a credit card company, bank, lender, etc., may providethe social discovery service via a social network configured to operateusing transaction data relating to financial service accounts providedby the financial service provider. In other embodiments, the socialdiscovery service may be built upon a third-party social network (e.g.,Facebook®, Twitter®, Yelp®, etc.) that is enhanced with financialtransaction data provided by one or more financial service providersand/or merchants. The disclosed embodiments may be configured to trackpurchases made by users based on, for example, merchant categories, timeof purchase, location of purchase, and other transaction parameters.Based on the transaction data and social network related informationrelated to the purchases, the disclosed embodiments may generateconsumer profiles for the users. The disclosed embodiments may use theconsumer profiles to provide social discovery operations for consumers,merchants, or other entities.

For example, in one embodiment, a social discovery service is providedthat allows a user to request and receive information about other userswith similar purchasing patterns who may be within a determined distanceof the requesting user (e.g., other consumers in the same store, mall,plaza, block, etc.). In another embodiment, the social discovery servicemay allow users to connect and communicate based on similarities inshopping habits or purchasing patterns. The disclosed embodiments mayprovide interfaces that allow a user to share shopping information,ideas, provide product feedback, etc. to other users in a socialcommunity that the user belongs to, with merchants, or to the generalpublic. The social discovery service may also provide mechanism to allowusers to build social communities for group buying, group charitygiving, crowdfunding, exchange gift ideas for a common known person,etc. The disclosed embodiments may also provide mechanisms that enablemerchants to provide product information relating to purchases byconsumers (e.g., SKU data, etc.). In one aspect, merchants who registerfor the social discovery service and provide product data may receiveinformation relating to consumer profiles, such as shopping habits, thepresence of consumers with certain shopping habits in certain storelocations, etc. The disclosed embodiments provide other aspects that areexplained below.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary system 100 for performing oneor more operations consistent with the disclosed embodiments. In oneembodiment, system 100 may include one or more financial serviceproviders 110, social network service system 130, one or more clients150 (exemplary clients 150A and 1508 shown), one or more merchantsystems 160 (exemplary merchant systems 160A and 1608 shown), andnetwork 140. The components and arrangement of the components includedin system 100 may vary. Thus, system 100 may further include othercomponents that perform or assist in the performance of one or moreprocesses consistent with the disclosed embodiments.

Financial service provider 110 may be an entity that provides financialservices. For example, financial service provider 110 may be a bank,credit card issuer, or other type of financial service entity thatgenerates, provides, manages, and/or maintains financial serviceaccounts for one or more users. Financial service accounts may include,for example, credit card accounts, loan accounts, checking accounts,savings accounts, reward accounts, and any other types of financialservice account known to those skilled in the art. Financial serviceprovider 110 may include infrastructure and components that areconfigured to generate and provide financial service accounts such ascredit card accounts, checking accounts, debit card accounts, lines ofcredit, and the like.

In one embodiment, financial service provider 110 may include one ormore computing systems that are configured to execute softwareinstructions stored on one or more memory devices to perform one or moreoperations consistent with the disclosed embodiments. In one embodiment,financial service provider 110 may include server 111. Server 111 may beone or more computing devices configured to execute softwareinstructions stored in memory to perform one or more processesconsistent with the disclosed embodiments. For example, server 111 mayinclude one or more memory device(s) storing data and softwareinstructions and one or more processor(s) configured to use the data andexecute the software instructions to perform server-based functions andoperations known to those skilled in the art. Server 111 may also beconfigured to execute stored software instructions to perform socialdiscovery service operations consistent with the disclosed embodiments.Server 111 may be a general purpose computer, a mainframe computer, orany combination of these components. In certain embodiments, server 111(or a system including server 111) may be configured as a particularapparatus, system, and the like based on the storage, execution, and/orimplementation of the software instructions that perform one or moreoperations consistent with the disclosed embodiments. Server 111 may bestandalone, or it may be part of a subsystem, which may be part of alarger system. For example, server 111 may represent distributed serversthat are remotely located and communicate over a network (e.g., network140) or a dedicated network, such as a LAN, for financial serviceprovider 110.

Server 111 may include or may connect to one or more storage devicesconfigured to store data and/or software instructions used by one ormore processors of server 111 to perform operations consistent withdisclosed embodiments. For example, server 111 may include memoryconfigured to store one or more software programs that performs severalfunctions when executed by a processor. The disclosed embodiments arenot limited to separate programs or computers configured to performdedicated tasks. For example, server 111 may include memory that storesa single program or multiple programs. Additionally, server 111 mayexecute one or more programs located remotely from server 111. Forexample, server 111 may access one or more remote programs stored inmemory included with a remote component that, when executed, performoperations consistent with the disclosed embodiments. In certainaspects, server 111 may include web server software that generates,maintains, and provides web site(s) that are accessible over network140. In other aspects, financial server provider 110 may connectseparate web server(s) or similar computing devices that generate,maintain, and provide web site(s) for financial service provider 110.

In certain aspects, a user may operate one or more components offinancial service provider (e.g., server 111) to perform one or moreoperations consistent with the disclosed embodiments. In one aspect,such a user may be an employee of, or associated with, financial serviceprovider 110 (e.g., someone authorized to use components of server 111or perform processes for financial service provider 110). In otheraspects, the user may not be an employee of, or otherwise is associatedwith financial service provider 110.

Social network service system 130 may be a computing system configuredto provide social network services. In one embodiment, social networkservice system 130 may be related to an entity that provides socialnetwork services. For example, social network service system 130 may bea computing system provided by a social network service provider, suchas, for example, Facebook®, Twitter®, LinkedIn®, etc. Social networkservice system 130 may include one or more computing devices (e.g.,server(s)), memory storing data and/or software instructions (e.g.,database(s), memory devices, etc.) and other known computing components.Social network service system 130 may be configured to communicate withone or more components of system 100, such as financial service provider110, merchant systems 160, and/or clients 150. Social network servicesystem 130 may be configured to provide a social network service thatprovides interface(s) accessible by users over a network (e.g., theInternet), relating to social network functions.

Merchant systems 160A and 1608 may computing systems that are associatedwith business entities that provide goods and/or services, such as aretailer, grocery store, service provider (e.g., utilities, etc.), orany other type of entity that provides goods and/or services thatconsumers (e.g., user or business entities) may purchase. While system100 is shown with two merchant systems 160A and 1608, the disclosedembodiments may be implemented in a system including only one merchantsystem 160 or two or more merchant systems 160. Further, a merchantsystem 160 is not limited to conducting business in any particularindustry or field. For example, merchant system 160A may be a systemassociated with a company that provides semiconductor chips and merchantsystem 1608 may be a company that supplies automobile parts.

Merchant system 160 may be associated with a merchant brick and mortarlocation(s) that a consumer (e.g., user 152) may physically visit andpurchase goods and services. Such physical locations may includemerchant system 160, which may include computing devices that performfinancial service transactions with consumers (e.g., Point of Sale (POS)terminal(s), kiosks, etc.). Merchant system 160 may also include backand/or front-end computing components that store data and executesoftware instructions to perform operations consistent with disclosedembodiments, such as computers that are operated by employees of themerchant (e.g., back office systems, etc.). Merchant system 160 may alsobe associated with a merchant that provides goods and/or service viaknown online or e-commerce type of solutions. For example, such amerchant may sell goods via a website using known online or e-commercesystems and solutions to market, sell, and process online transactions.

In one embodiment, merchant system 160 (e.g., 160A and 160B) may includeone or more servers or other type of computer devices. The merchantsystem server(s) may be or more computing devices configured to executesoftware instructions stored in memory to perform one or more processesconsistent with the disclosed embodiments. For example, merchant system160 may include one or more memory device(s) storing data and softwareinstructions and one or more processor(s) configured to use the data andexecute the software instructions to perform server-based functions andoperations known to those skilled in the art. Merchant system 160 mayinclude server(s) that are configured to execute stored softwareinstructions to perform operations associated with a merchant, includingone or more processes associated with processing purchase transactions,generating transaction data, generating product data (e.g., SKU data)relating to purchase transactions, etc. Merchant system 160 may includeone or more servers that may be a general purpose computer, a mainframecomputer, or any combination of these components. In certainembodiments, merchant system 160 (or a system including merchant system160) may be configured as a particular apparatus, system, and the likebased on the storage, execution, and/or implementation of the softwareinstructions that perform one or more operations consistent with thedisclosed embodiments. A merchant server may be standalone, or it may bepart of a subsystem, which may be part of a larger system. For example,a merchant server may represent distributed servers that are remotelylocated and communicate over a network (e.g., network 140) or adedicated network, such as a LAN, for merchant 160.

In certain aspects, merchant system 160 may include one or more webservers that execute software that generates, maintains, and providesweb site(s) for a respective merchant that is accessible over network140. In other aspects, a merchant system 160 may connect separately toweb server(s) or similar computing devices that generate, maintain, andprovide web site(s) for a merchant.

In certain embodiments, one or more users may operate componentsassociated with merchant system 160 to perform one or more processesconsistent with the disclosed embodiments. For example, a user mayaccess, use, and otherwise operate merchant system 160A to performprocesses such as, purchase or sale transaction processes, forecastingprocesses, supply chain management processes, inventory managementprocesses, accounting processes, and the like. A user may also access,use, and otherwise operate merchant system 160B to perform similarprocesses associated with the business for a merchant associated withmerchant system 160B.

In one example, merchant system 160 may be configured to executesoftware instructions to provide transaction data and/or product datarelating to purchase transactions to financial service provider 110 overnetwork 140.

A client 150 (e.g., 150A and 150B) may be one or more computing devicesconfigured to perform one or more operations consistent with certaindisclosed embodiments. Client 150 may be a desktop computer, a laptop, aserver, a mobile device (e.g., tablet, smart phone, etc.), and any othertype of computing device. Client 150 may include one or more processorsconfigured to execute software instructions stored in memory, such asmemory included in client 150. Client 150 may include software that whenexecuted by a processor performs known Internet-related communicationand content display processes. For instance, client 150 may executebrowser software that generates and displays interfaces includingcontent on a display device included in, or connected to, client 150.Client 150 may be a mobile device that executes mobile deviceapplications and/or mobile device communication software that allowsclient 150 to communicate with components over network 140, andgenerates and displays content in interfaces via a display deviceincluded in client 150. The disclosed embodiments are not limited to anyparticular configuration of client 150. For instance, client 150 may bea mobile device that stores and executes mobile applications thatprovide financial service related functions offered by financial serviceprovider 110 and/or merchants 150A, 1508, such as a banking mobileapplication for checking balances, paying bills, etc. Client 150 mayexecute software instructions that also provide access to a socialdiscovery service consistent with the disclosed embodiments. In certainembodiments, client 150 may be configured to execute softwareinstructions relating to location services, such as GPS locations. Forexample, client 150 may be configured to determine a geographic locationof client 150 (and associated user 152) and provide location data andtime stamp data corresponding to the location data.

In one embodiment, a user 152 (e.g., 152A or 152B) may use client 150 toperform one or more operations consistent with the disclosedembodiments. In one aspect, user 152 may be a customer of financialservice provider 110. For instance, financial service provider 110 maymaintain a financial service account (e.g., credit card account) foruser 152A that user 152A may use to purchase goods and/or servicesonline or at brick and mortar locations associated with a merchantrelating to merchant system 160A and/or 160B. In other embodiments, user152 may be a potential customer of financial service provider 110 or maynot be affiliated with financial service provider 110 from the user'sperspective and/or the financial service provider 110's perspective.

Network 140 may be any type of network configured to providecommunications between components of system 100. For example, network100 may be any type of network (including infrastructure) that providescommunications, exchanges information, and/or facilitates the exchangeof information, such as the Internet, a Local Area Network, or othersuitable connection(s) that enables the sending and receiving ofinformation between the components of system 100. In other embodiments,one or more components of system 100 may communicate directly through adedicated communication link(s), such as links between financial serviceprovider 110, merchants 160A and 160B, and social network system 130.

In certain embodiments, financial service provider 110 may be configuredto provide social network services. For example, as shown in FIG. 2A,financial service provider 110 may include a social network servicesystem 130 that is configured to provide social network services in amanner consistent with that disclosed above in connection with socialnetwork service system 130 shown in FIG. 1. In such embodiments, socialnetwork service system 130 may not be associated with a third-partysocial network service provider.

The disclosed embodiments include configurations that include a socialdiscovery service system that provides a social discovery serviceconsistent with the disclosed embodiments. FIG. 2B shows a block diagramof an exemplary system 200B including a social discovery system 170,multiple financial service providers 110, 120, social network servicesystem 130, merchant systems 160A and 160B, and clients 150A and 150B.Financial service providers 110 and 120 may be configured and operatesimilar to financial service provider 110 disclosed above in connectionwith FIG. 1, with financial service provider 120 being a separatefinancial service provider than financial service provider 110.Similarly, social network service system 130, merchant systems 160A and160B, and clients 150A and 150B may be configured and operate similar tothe similarly labeled components disclosed above in connection with FIG.1.

Social discovery service system 170 may be a computing system that isconfigured to provide a social discovery service consistent withdisclosed embodiments. For example, social discovery service system 170may include one or more computing devices (e.g., server(s)), memorystoring data and/or software instructions (e.g., database(s), memorydevices, etc.) and other known computing components. Social discoveryservice system 170 may be configured to communicate with one or morecomponents of system 100, such as financial service provider 110,merchant systems 160, social network service system 130, and/or clients150. Social discovery service system 170 may be configured to provide asocial discovery service that provides interface(s) accessible by usersover a network (e.g., the Internet), relating to social discoveryservice functions consistent with disclosed embodiments. Socialdiscovery service system 170 may be configured to communicate withsocial network service system 130 to provide social network services. Inother embodiments, social discovery service system 170 may be configuredto provide its own social network services, such as social networkservices that integrate with the social discovery service provided bysocial discovery service system 170.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary system 300 that may be associated withfinancial service provider 110, social network service system 170,merchant system 160, and/or client 150. In one embodiment, system 300may include a server 311 having one or more processors 321, one or morememories 323, and one or more input/output (I/O) devices 322.Alternatively, server 311 may take the form of a general purposecomputer, a mainframe computer, or any combination of these components.In certain embodiments, server 311 (or a system including server 311)may be configured as a particular apparatus, system, and the like basedon the storage, execution, and/or implementation of the softwareinstructions that perform one or more operations consistent with thedisclosed embodiments. Server 311 may be standalone, or it may be partof a subsystem, which may be part of a larger system. Server 311 maycorrespond to server 111, or any server or computing device included insocial network service system 170, merchant system 160, and/or client150 shown in FIGS. 1, 2A, and 2B.

Processor 321 may include one or more known processing devices, such asa microprocessor from the Pentium™ or Xeon™ family manufactured byIntel™, the Turion™ family manufactured by AMD™, or any of variousprocessors manufactured by Sun Microsystems. The disclosed embodimentsare not limited to any type of processor(s) configured in server 311.

Memory 323 may include one or more storage devices configured to storeinstructions used by processor 321 to perform functions related todisclosed embodiments. For example, memory 323 may be configured withone or more software instructions, such as program(s) 324 that mayperform one or more operations when executed by processor 321. Thedisclosed embodiments are not limited to separate programs or computersconfigured to perform dedicated tasks. For example, memory 323 mayinclude a single program 324 that performs the functions of the server311, or program 324 could comprise multiple programs. Additionally,processor 321 may execute one or more programs located remotely fromserver 311. For example, financial service provider 110, social networkservice system 170, merchant system 160, or client 150, may, via server311, access one or more remote programs that, when executed, performfunctions related to certain disclosed embodiments.

Memory 323 may also store data 325 that may reflect any type ofinformation in any format that the system may use to perform operationsconsistent with the disclosed embodiments.

I/O devices 322 may be one or more device that is configured to allowdata to be received and/or transmitted by server 311. I/O devices 322may include one or more digital and/or analog communication devices thatallow server 311 to communicate with other machines and devices, such asother components of systems 100, 200A, and 200B.

Server 311 may also be communicatively connected to one or moredatabase(s) 327. Server 311 may be communicatively connected todatabase(s) 327 through network 140. Database 327 may include one ormore memory devices that store information and are accessed and/ormanaged through server 311. By way of example, database(s) 311 mayinclude Oracle™ databases, Sybase™ databases, or other relationaldatabases or non-relational databases, such as Hadoop sequence files,HBase, or Cassandra. The databases or other files may include, forexample, data and information related to the source and destination of anetwork request, the data contained in the request, etc. Systems andmethods of disclosed embodiments, however, are not limited to separatedatabases. In one aspect, system 300 may include database 327.Alternatively, database 327 may be located remotely from the system 300.Database 327 may include computing components (e.g., database managementsystem, database server, etc.) configured to receive and processrequests for data stored in memory devices of database(s) 327 and toprovide data from database 327.

The disclosed embodiments include systems and methods that provide asocial discovery service. The social discovery service may provide aportal for users (e.g., consumers, merchant's, etc.) to request socialdiscovery operations, review social discovery characteristics, formand/or join social communities, etc. In certain aspects, the disclosedembodiments may generate social discovery profiles for users based onsocial discovery characteristics, such as user demographics and othersocial traits that may be provided by the users (e.g., self profiling).In addition to, or in place of, social discovery characteristics, thedisclosed embodiments may generate social discovery profiles based ontransaction data relating to purchases made by users at merchants. Thedisclosed embodiments may also generate the social discovery profilesbased on other information, such as location data (e.g., geographiclocation data of a user or user device (e.g., client 150)) at certaintimes (e.g., at the time of a purchase, etc.)). In addition, thedisclosed embodiments may generate the social discovery profiles basedon product data, such as SKU data or other product identifiers, relatingto the purchase transactions monitored by the social discovery service.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary system 400 that illustrates an example ofcommunicating transaction and product data for generating socialdiscovery profiles consistent with certain disclosed embodiments. Inexemplary system 400, client 150A may be configured to collect and sendlocation data to financial service provider 110. In one example, thelocation data may reflect a GPS or similar location of client 150Aduring a certain time, such as at the time of a purchase transaction ata merchant. Client 150A may also be configured to provide transactiondata relating to purchase transactions, such as financial accountinformation relating to a purchase (e.g., amount, account number,timestamp information, etc.). Client 150A may be used by user 152A tofacilitate a purchase transaction with a merchant associated withmerchant system 160A, such as in an online purchase transaction, or POStransaction involving a mobile device and data reader (e.g., RFID orNear Field Communications (NFC)).

Merchant system 160A may be configured to provide transaction datarelating to a purchase transaction involving user 152A and/or client150A, such as the transaction data typically provided by merchants tofinancial service providers. Merchant system 160A may also be configuredto provide product data (e.g., SKU data) relating to the purchasetransaction involving user 152A and/or client 150A. The product data mayidentify the goods or services purchased by user 152A during thetransaction.

Financial service provider 110 may receive and store the location data,product data, and transaction data from client 150A and/or merchantsystem 160A in a memory (e.g., memory 422). Financial service provider110 may be configured to provide a social discovery service system thatprovides a social discovery service and performs social discoveryoperations consistent with the disclosed embodiments. Components offinancial service provider 110 may be configured to provide the receivedlocation data, product data, and transaction data to the socialdiscovery system for performing such operations. In certain embodiments,the social discovery service system may be implemented separate fromfinancial service provider 110.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of an exemplary system 500 that includes asocial discovery service system 510 consistent with certain disclosedembodiments. In one embodiment, social discovery service system 510 maybe a system included with or provided by financial service provider 110,such as the social discovery service system 130 exemplified in FIG. 2A.In other embodiments, social discovery service system 510 may be asystem separate from other components, such as the social discoveryservice system 170 exemplified in FIG. 2B. Social discovery servicesystem 510 may receive location data and transaction data relating topurchase transactions from client 150A. In other embodiments, client150A may provide location data and transaction data to financial serviceprovider 110 in a manner similar to that disclosed above in connectionwith FIG. 4.

Merchant system 160A may collect, generate, and provide transaction datarelating to purchase transactions involving user 152A and/or client 150Ato social discovery service system 510. Merchant system 160A may alsocollect, generate, and provide product data (e.g., SKU data) to socialdiscovery service system 510. In some embodiments, merchant system 160Amay provide product data (e.g., SKU data) and transaction data relatingto purchase transactions involving customers of the merchant relating tomerchant system 160A to financial service provider 110.

In some embodiments, financial service provider 110 may providetransaction data and/or location data received from client 150A and/ormerchant system 160A to social discovery service system 510. Financialservice provider 110 may also send other information to social discoveryservice system 510, such as credit profile information for users (e.g.,customers). Further, financial service provider 110 may send productdata (e.g., SKU data) received from merchant system 160A to socialdiscovery service system 510. Social discovery service system 510 may beconfigured to execute software processes to perform social discoveryoperations, including generating social discovery profiles, creatingconsumer habit profiles, social discovery communities (e.g.,relationships including consumers with similar shopping habits, consumerwho purchase similar goods and/or services, consumers who shop at thesame merchant(s), etc.), and other operations consistent with thedisclosed embodiments.

As explained, the disclosed embodiments may provide a social discoveryservice that users, merchants, or other entities can register with torequest and receive information relating to social discovery operationsconsistent with disclosed embodiments. The social discovery service maybe provided by a social discovery service system that may be associatedwith financial service provider 110, social network service provider130, or may another entity that provides social discovery servicesconsistent with the disclosed embodiments. The social discovery servicemay be provided via an online portal that is accessible by computingsystems over network 140 (e.g., Internet) and provides interfaces withcontent, data entry selections, menu selections, and other well knowninterface components known to those skilled in the art, such as web pageinteractive content, graphics, icons, audio files, etc.

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of an exemplary social discovery serviceregistration process consistent with disclosed embodiments. In oneaspect, social discovery service system (e.g., system 130, 170, 510),may receive a request from a user (e.g., user 152) to register with thesocial discovery service (step 610). The request may be provided via thesocial discovery service portal using interfaces provided to client 150or any other computing device relating to the user. The social discoveryservice system may request and receive information from the user, suchas demographic information, self-provided characteristics (e.g., likes,hobbies, favorite products, movies, etc.). In addition, the socialdiscovery service system may request and receive financial serviceaccount information from the user. For example, the social discoveryservice system may receive from the user information that allows thesocial discovery service system to interface with and receiveinformation from one or more financial service providers that the useris a customer of (e.g., credit card account information, etc.). Thefinancial service account information may include the identity of afinancial service account, the identity of the financial service accountprovider, credentials that enable the social discovery service system toaccess and/or receive information relating to the user's financialservice account.

In one embodiment, the social discovery service system may use thefinancial service account information to communicate with a financialservice provider (e.g., 110) to configure a communication protocoland/or link that enables the social discovery service system to receiveinformation from the financial service provider (e.g., 110) relating topurchase transactions made by the user using a financial service accountprovided by the financial service account provider. The social discoveryservice system may link the user's financial service account(s) to auser social profile that may be generated by the social discoveryservice system (step 620). Once configured, the social discovery servicesystem may use the information provided by the financial serviceprovider (e.g., transaction data, etc.) to perform social discoveryoperation(s) (step 630). The social discovery operations may includeoperations responsive to a request by the user through the socialdiscovery service. The social discovery operations may includeoperations that are automatically performed (e.g., without request by aregistered user), such as creating, updating, editing, or deletingsocial profiles for the user or social discovery graphs, communities,etc. that include the user.

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of an exemplary social discovery graph processconsistent with disclosed embodiments. In one embodiment, the socialdiscovery service system (e.g., system 130, 170, 510) may be configuredto receive information relating to purchase transactions made by users(e.g., registered users of the social discovery service). In one aspect,the social discovery service system may receive transaction data,product data, and/or location data relating to a purchase transaction bya user (e.g., user 152A) with a merchant (e.g., a merchant associatedwith merchant system 160A) (step 710). The social discovery servicesystem may receive the transaction data, product data, and/or locationdata from financial service provider (e.g., 110), the merchant viamerchant system (e.g., merchant system 160A), and/or client associatedwith the user (e.g., client 150A). The social discovery service systemmay receive this information in a manner similar to that disclosed abovein connection with FIGS. 4 and 5. The transaction data, product data,and/or location data may relate to a single purchase transaction (e.g.,user 152A purchasing one or more items at a certain time from a certainmerchant). In other embodiments, the transaction data, product data,and/or location data may include information relating to multiplepurchase transactions (e.g., one or more user 152A purchase transactionsinvolving a first merchant, and/or one or more purchase transactionsinvolving one or more other merchants). Further, the social discoveryservice system may receive transaction data, product data, and/orlocation data relating to one or more users (e.g., a batch file oftransaction data relating to purchase transactions involving many usersand merchant system 160A over a period of time).

Based on the received transaction data, product data, and/or locationdata, the social discovery service system may generate a socialdiscovery profile for a user (step 720). A social discovery profile maybe a user social discovery profile that identifies certaincharacteristics of the user relating to the purchase transactions thatthe user performed. For example, a social discovery profile may be auser profile that includes shopping habits for the user (e.g., shops atcertain times of day, shops on certain days, purchases certain products(e.g., buys a specific brand of coffee, buys certain types of productsmore often than other products (e.g., infant-related goods)), shops at aparticular merchant or merchants more often than others, etc.). Incertain embodiments, the social discovery service system may generatesocial discovery profiles based on the received transaction data,product data, and/or location data, thus forming profiles that provide apurchase transaction relationship with a user. The social discoveryservice system may store the social discovery profile(s) in a memory.The social discovery profile(s) may be stored in any data format,configuration, etc.

In certain embodiments, the social discovery service system maygenerate, edit, and/or update one or more social discovery graphs (step730). A social discovery graph may reflect a profile of one or morecharacteristic(s) in relation to one or more users, merchants, or otherentities. For example, a social discovery graph may include a shoppinggraph that relates to shopping characteristics of a group of users. Inone example, a shopping graph may reflect a consumption pattern ofconsumers, such as the purchase of a type of product or service (e.g.,sporting goods, toys, coffee, etc.), a time or day pattern associatedwith purchases (e.g., purchases made mostly on weekends, after 5:00 pmon weekdays, etc.), etc. A shopping graph may reflect a relationshipinvolving a combination of one or more consumption patterns (e.g., thepurchase of a type of product on certain time/dates). A social discoverygraph may reflect a shopping graph specific to certain merchants (e.g.,consumers who shop at specific merchants or merchant locations). Ashopping graph may reflect a relationship between a specific product orgroups of products and consumers and/or merchants. In other aspects, asocial discovery graph may reflect a relationship between a commontransaction goal and a group of users (e.g., a group of users with acommon goal to donate funds to a specific charity, cause, event, etc.).As another example, a social discovery graph may reflect a relationshipassociated with a level of trust between two or more users (e.g., agroup of users who are assigned a level of trust among the members ofthe shopping graph for purposes of exchanging or transferring funds).

Social discovery graphs may be stored as information in a data structurein a memory. Processing components of the disclosed embodiments (e.g., aserver of social discovery service system 130, 170, 510) may generateand store social discovery graphs in a memory that access the storedsocial discovery graph data structures to perform one or more operationsconsistent with the disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of an exemplary arrangement of shoppinggraphs consistent with certain disclosed embodiments. As shown, users811, 812, 813, and 814 may be consumers who purchase goods at merchantsM1, M2, and/or M3. For example, users 811 and 812 may purchase goodsfrom merchants M1 and M2. User 813 may purchase goods from merchants M1and M3. User 814 may purchase goods from merchant M3. In certainembodiments, a social discovery service system (e.g., system 130, 170,510) may receive transaction data, product data, and location dataassociated with the purchase transactions involving users 811-814. Basedon that information, the social discovery service system may generateshopping graphs that reflect certain relationships between the usersand/or merchants shopping patterns or characteristics. For instance, thedisclosed embodiments may generate a shopping graph SG1 that includesusers that have a consumption pattern CP1 (e.g., users who purchase thesame type of product, purchase goods in similar time/day ranges, etc.).The disclosed embodiments may generate a shopping graph SG2 (reflectinga merchant M1 profile) that includes users who purchase goods frommerchant M1. Similarly, the disclosed embodiments may generate ashopping graph SG3 (reflecting a merchant M2 profile) that includesusers who purchase goods from merchant M2, and a shopping graph SG4(reflecting a merchant M3 profile) that includes users who purchasegoods from merchant M3. The disclosed embodiments may also generate ashopping graph SG5 (reflecting a product profile P1), which may reflectusers who purchase a specific product (e.g., SKU, brand type, producttype, etc.).

In certain embodiments, the social discovery service system (e.g.,system 130, 170, 510) may be configured to generate and store datastructures associated with the social discovery graphs. The socialdiscovery service system may be configured to automatically generate,edit, update, or modify social discovery graphs. The social discoveryservice system may also be configured to generate, edit, update, ormodify social discovery graphs in response to requests from users.

The disclosed embodiments may be configured to allow a user to search,view, and collect information relating to social discovery relationshipsconsistent with disclosed embodiments. FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of anexemplary social discovery relationship request process consistent withcertain disclosed embodiments. In one embodiment, a social discoveryservice system consistent with disclosed embodiments may receive asocial relationship request (step 910). The request may be received froma user, such as a consumer or a user associated with a merchant (e.g.,user 152A via client 150A or a user operating merchant system 160B). Inone embodiment, the social discovery service system may generate andprovide an interface that includes an option that may be selected by theuser to request social discovery relationships.

The social discovery relationship request may be a request to search andreceive information relating to social discovery relationships based onselected search attributes. For example, the social discovery servicesystem may receive a request that includes selected shopping patterns,consumption patterns, merchants, specific products, product types,product brands, location, shopping habits, shopping habits, shoppingpreferences or dislikes, etc. For instance, the social discovery servicesystem may provide an interface that allows a user to search for socialdiscovery graphs concerning certain relationships (e.g., search forconsumers who shop at merchant M1, search for consumers who purchaseproduct A, search for consumers who shop at a certain location (e.g., amall, a shopping district, a town, city, zip code, etc.), search forconsumers who purchase products at certain times of day or on certaindays of the week, or on certain holidays, etc.).

In response to the request, the social discovery service system mayanalyze one or more social discovery graphs to generate a response tothe social discovery relationship request (step 920). For example, thesocial discovery service system may use the one or more searchattributes to search stored social discovery graphs (via, for example,data structures stored in one or more memories) to identify socialdiscovery graphs that match the search parameters associated with theselected search attributes. The social discovery service system maygenerate and provide a response to the social discovery request based onthe analysis of the social discovery graphs (step 930). For example, thesocial discovery service system may generate one or more interfaces thatprovide information reflecting one or more social discovery graphs thatmeet a user's social discovery relationship request (e.g., list ofsocial communities, groups, etc. having certain characteristics, such asshopping habit H1 community, shopping pattern P2 community, merchant M1customers, etc.). The response may identify the user(s) included in theshopping graphs identified in the response. The response (e.g., theinterface providing the response) may include hyperlinks for each useridentified in one or more of the identified shopping graphs. Theresponse interface may provide results of the social discoveryrelationship request in any format and configuration, such as forexample, through graphics, animations, text, drop down menus, tables,interactive lists, etc. The disclosed embodiments are not limited to anyformat, configuration, and look and feel of the interface(s) includingthe results.

FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of an exemplary registration process involvinga merchant consistent with disclosed embodiments. At step 1010, a userassociated with a merchant (e.g., a user operating merchant system 160Aor 160B) may generate and issue a social discovery service registrationrequest consistent with the disclosed embodiments. In one aspect, asocial discovery service system (e.g., 130, 170, 510) may receive theregistration request and perform one or more processes to register themerchant identified in the request. The registration request may beseparately provided by the user via another message, via an interface,etc. For example, the social discovery service system may generate asocial discovery account for the merchant that is accessible by userswith proper credentials through the social discovery service provided bythe social discovery service system. In certain embodiments, the socialdiscovery service system may configure one or more processes andcommunication links for receiving merchant data from the registeredmerchant via for example a merchant system (e.g., merchant system 160).For instance, the social discovery service system may configure ways fora merchant to provide merchant data (e.g., product data, transactiondata, etc.) relating to purchase transactions to the social discoveryservice system. In one example, a merchant system 160 may be configuredto allow the social discovery service system to request and receiveproduct data and/or transaction data associated with purchasetransactions involving the merchant. As another example, the socialdiscovery service system may be configured to receive unsolicitedtransaction data associated with purchase transactions (e.g., merchantsystem 160A may be configured to automatically send product data and/ortransaction data to social discovery service system periodically, uponcompletion or during a purchase transaction, after a certain number ofpurchase transactions have occurred with the merchant, etc.).

The social discovery service system may be configured to perform one ormore social discovery operations based on the merchant data (e.g.,product data, transaction data, etc.) consistent with the disclosedembodiments. The social discovery operations may include those disclosedabove, such as processing social discovery relationship requests,generating, updating, deleting, or modifying social discovery graphs.They may also include operations specific for merchants. For instance,the social discovery service system may generate a merchant profile fora registered merchant that includes characteristics for that merchant(e.g., location, type of merchant, types of goods sold by the merchant,product specific data provided by the merchant, suppliers of themerchant, etc.).

In certain embodiments, a social discovery service system consistentwith the disclosed embodiments may be configured to perform processesthat notify a merchant when consumers who match one or more profiles,consumption patterns, shopping habits, etc. are in a particular merchantlocation, or are shopping online, etc. FIG. 11 shows a flowchart of anexemplary social discovery event process consistent with certaindisclosed embodiments. At step 1110, the social discovery service system(e.g., 130, 170, 510) may monitor purchase transactions, location data,online shopping transactions or browsing sessions, etc. of registeredusers to identify a social discovery event. The social discovery servicesystem may also analyze social discovery graphs and related socialprofiles stored in memory to determine whether a social discovery eventexists. In one embodiment, a social discovery event may be an event thatis related to a merchant and consumers of that merchant. For example, asocial discovery event may include an event where a certain number ofusers (e.g., one or more) registered with the social discovery serviceare located in a particular store of a merchant at the same time. Asocial discovery event may include an event where a certain number ofusers (e.g., one or more) with certain shopping characteristics (e.g.,members of one or more shopping graphs, etc.) are located in or near aparticular store of a merchant at a given time (e.g., ten consumers whopurchase coffee brand X are in merchant location Y (e.g., grocery storeat a certain address, etc.)).

The social discovery service system may be configured to generate anotification relating to the social discovery event and send thenotification to a merchant system associated with the merchant (e.g.,merchant system 160A, 160B, etc.) (e.g., step 1120). In one aspect, thenotification may include a description of the type of event (e.g., storeX at location Y, has N consumers who have a shopping habit SH). Thenotification may also provide shopping profile information for eachidentified user, or provide a link to obtain the shopping profiles foreach identified user. In certain aspects, the social discovery servicesystem may be configured to send the notification in the form an alertto one or more users (e.g., certain merchant employees). The alert maybe provided via email, text message, or other forms of communication.

In one embodiment, the merchant who receives the social discovery eventnotification may be configured to perform a shopping incentive process.For example, merchant system 160 associated with the merchant mayreceive the notification and, in response, generate a temporary sale ofproducts that are identified in the shopping graph or profilesassociated with the identified users (e.g., 20 minute sale on coffeebrand X). In one embodiment, the social discovery service system mayprovide a notification to each of the identified users at the merchantlocation of the incentive. Merchant system 160 may be configured to sendthe social discovery service system authorization to provide thenotification to the identified users, or the social discovery servicesystem may be configured to automatically send the notification to theusers based on predefined rules associated with the merchant.

In one example, the social discovery service system may provide anonline social discovery service that identifies for a merchant when acertain number of users who are members of a certain shopping graph(e.g., have common shopping habits, consumption patterns, etc.) arebrowsing the merchant's website that provides goods for sale. The socialdiscovery service system may access to the server(s) that provide themerchant's web site to assess visiting users and determine whether anyof the users are registered users of the social discovery service (via,for example, account identifiers, usernames, etc.) The social discoveryservice system may use the transaction data, product data, locationdata, and other information relating to purchase transactions associatedwith the online users to determine whether a group of the users (e.g., adetermined number of users, such as 10, 100, etc.) purchased, or maypurchase certain products (e.g., items in a shopping cart). In oneaspect, the social discovery service system may notify the merchant (viamerchant system 160, for example) that a social discovery event existsthat a certain number customers each having a common shopping patternare currently shopping online at the merchant's website. The merchant'smerchant system 160 may be configured generate and provide (e.g., viathe website) incentives to each of the identified users to promote salesof products (e.g., cross-selling other products or to provide discountson a product or types of products that each user is interested in basedon the shopping graph relationships associated with the users).

In one embodiment, the social discovery service system or merchantsystem 160A may be configured to generate and provide an offer to eachof the identified users in the identified shopping graph an option tojoin a real-time discount group to receive a discount (or otherincentive) that can be redeemed during the users' shopping session withthe merchant's website. For example, the social discovery service systemor merchant system 160 may provide to each identified user a messagethat the user can receive a 15% discount on a particular product if fiveor more other like-configured users (e.g., those in the same shoppinggraph) purchase the product within the next ten minutes. The discountcan be redeemed after the purchase transaction, be provided as storecredit, can be processed via financial service provider 110 (orrespective providers for the users) etc.

FIG. 12 shows a flow chart of an exemplary dynamic marketing planprocess that may be performed via the disclosed embodiments. In oneembodiment, a social discovery service system consistent with disclosedembodiments may detect a social discovery event (step 1210). The socialdiscovery service system may detect a social discovery event similar tothat disclosed above in connection with FIG. 11. Based on the socialdiscovery event, the social discovery service system may determine adynamic marketing plan (step 1220). The disclosed embodiments may thenperform the dynamic marketing plan (step 1230). In one embodiment, thedynamic marketing plan may be a plan that provides a recommendation to amerchant based on the social discovery event. For instance, the socialdiscovery service system may determine that a certain number ofconsumers who have purchased a particular product, product type, etc.are located near or in a merchant store location. The social discoveryservice system may generate an incentive message based on one or morepredetermined rules or configurations that is provided by the socialdiscovery service system to the users via respective clients 150 (e.g.,five users are within 200 feet of merchant M1 store location receive adiscount message for a discount on a particular product at merchant M1.

In certain embodiments, a merchant system (e.g., system 160A) mayperform one or more of the process steps of FIG. 12. For example, inresponse to a notification of a social discovery event from the socialdiscovery service system, merchant system 160A may execute software todetermine the dynamic marketing plan (e.g., step 1220). Merchant system160A may be configured to perform the dynamic marketing plan (e.g., step1230). For example, merchant system 160A may generate advertisements forcertain products that are provided to an electronic display in the brickand mortar location of the merchant associated with merchant system 160A(e.g., update digital displays in a store location based on the dynamicmarketing plan). As another example, the dynamic marketing plan mayinclude incentives associated with financial service provider 110 (orfinancial service providers associated with the identified users at themerchant location or near the location). For example, the merchantsystem 160A may send a message to an electronic display in the brick andmortar location of the merchant associated with merchant system 160Athat provides an incentive to users who have accounts with financialservice provider 110 (e.g., receive 10% your total purchase if you useyour credit card provided by financial service provider 110).

FIG. 13 shows a flowchart of an exemplary social discovery operationrelating to gifting consistent with disclosed embodiments. In oneembodiment, a user (e.g., user 152A) may wish to provide a gift toanother person. The user may use the social discovery service of thedisclosed embodiments to receive recommendations of gift ideas based onsocial discovery profile information relating to the target person(e.g., the intended recipient of the gift). For instance, the socialdiscovery service system may receive a gift recommendation request (step1310) (e.g., via client 150A from user 152A). In response, the socialdiscovery service system may execute software instructions thatdetermine one or more recommended gift ideas for the target person basedon social discovery data relating to the target person (e.g., step1320). In one aspect, the target person is a user registered with thesocial discovery service provided by the social discovery service systemand, for example, has a social profile, is a member of one or moreshopping graphs, etc. For example, the social discovery service systemmay access and analyze the purchase transaction data, product data,social discovery profile, shopping graphs, etc. associated with thetarget person. The social discovery service system may generate arecommendation response and provide the recommendation response to therequesting user (step 1330) (e.g., via an interface accessible by client150A, via email, text message, etc. received by client 150A, etc.). Asan example, the social discovery service system may determine based onthe social discovery graphs associated with the target person that thetarget person likes coffee brand X. The social discovery service systemmay provide a recommendation to the requesting user to purchase a giftinvolving coffee brand X for the target user. The recommendation mayinclude more than one gift ideas and may be related to recommendationsother than specific products.

In certain embodiments, the social discovery service system (e.g., 130,170, 510) may be configured to determine and store a trust level for aregistered user of the social discovery service. For example, based oncertain criteria (e.g., relationships with other users, purchase historyof the user, financial profile data provided by financial serviceprovider (e.g., 110, 120), the social discovery service system maydetermine a trust level in relation to other registered users of thesocial network service. FIG. 14 shows a flowchart of an exemplary P2Ppayment process consistent with disclosed embodiments. In oneembodiment, a social discovery service system consistent with thedisclosed embodiments (e.g., 130, 170, 510) may receive a P2P paymentrequest (step 1410) (e.g., from a user (e.g., user 150A)). The requestmay identify the user providing the request and another userparticipating with a P2P payment (e.g., user 150A wishes to transferfunds to user 1508, both who are registered with the social discoveryservice). The social discovery service system may be configured todetermine a trust level of each participant of the P2P process (step1420). In one embodiment, the social discovery service system mayconsider common social discovery characteristics to determine the trustlevel (e.g., high, medium, low; trustworthy, not trustworthy, numericalvalues, color codes, etc.). For example, the social discovery servicesystem may determine users who both are customers of the same financialservice provider (e.g., provider 110) have a high trust level inrelation to each other. As another example, the social discovery servicesystem may determine the trust level of P2P participants based onwhether the participants shop at the same merchant, or purchase similarproducts, or have common social profile characteristics, have a commonrelationship with another person who is not a participant of the P2Pprocess, etc.).

The social discovery service system may provide trust level informationto the P2P payment participants (step 1430). For example, the socialdiscovery service system may generate and send a message to client 152Aand 152B that is displayed via display device indicating the trust levelor an associated message of the other participant. In one embodiment,the social discovery service system may be configured to send a messageto the financial service provider of the requesting P2P participantindicating that a fund transfer from the user is authorized, etc. Theauthorization may be initiated by the user (e.g., via client 152A) ormay be configured to be sent automatically based on predefined rulesconfigured by the requesting participant.

FIG. 15 shows a flowchart of an exemplary crowdfunding processconsistent with certain embodiments. In one aspect, the social discoveryservice system may receive a crowdfunding request from a user (step1510). The crowdfunding request may identify a particular event, cause,service, etc. that the user would like to fund with others. Based on thecrowdfunding request, the social discovery service system may identifycrowdfunding participants (step 1520). For example, the social discoveryservice system may identify crowdfunding parameter(s) (e.g., a product,characteristic, habit, consumption pattern, trait, etc.), and use theparameter(s) to search, analyze and assess the social discoveryprofiles, social discovery graphs, etc. stored by the social discoveryservice system to identify other users with common traits, socialdiscovery characteristics, etc. According to some embodiments, theparameter(s) use crowdfunding parameter(s) provided by the user in thecrowdfunding request. The social discovery service system may thenperform a crowdfunding process consistent with the crowdfunding requestand based on the identified crowdfunding participants (e.g., step 1530).

For example, a user may provide a request to the social discoveryservice system to identify other users who may be interested in fundinga school event, a social event, a community cause, etc. Based on therequest, the social discovery service system may identify other usersregistered with the social discovery service who may be interested injoining the crowdfunding effort based on the transaction data, productdata, location data, social profile data, social discovery graphs, etc.stored by the social discovery service system. The social discoveryservice system may send notifications to the identified users of thecrowdfunding effort to allow the users to participate. In other aspects,the social discovery service system may generate a social discoverygraph for the crowdfunding effort that may be accessible by users whoagree to joining the crowdfunding effort.

FIG. 16 shows a flowchart of an exemplary group buying processconsistent with disclosed embodiments. In one embodiment, a socialdiscovery service system consistent with disclosed embodiments (e.g.,130, 170, 510) may receive a group buying request from a user (e.g.,step 1610). In response, the social discovery service system maydetermine one or more target consumers (e.g., other registered users)who may be interested in participating in the group buying effort (e.g.,step 1620). The social discovery service system may perform a groupbuying process based on the determination (e.g., step 1630). Forexample, the social discovery service system may receive a request toform a group of buyers for particular product in an attempt to receive adiscount or other incentive on the product (e.g., a bicycle, atelevision, a smart phone, grocery item, etc.). The social discoveryservice system may analyze social discovery profile data, socialdiscovery graphs, etc. relating to other registered users to identifyother users who may have an interest in purchasing the identifiedproduct. Based on the results of the analysis (e.g., twenty-five peopleidentified who may have an interest), the social discovery servicesystem may generate and provide requests to the identified other usersto determine whether they would like to participate in a group buyingoption for the identified product. The message may be provided to client150 associated with each user.

If a certain number of users respond that they are interested (e.g.,certain percentage, etc.), the social discovery service system mayidentify one or more merchants who provide the identified productthrough social discovery profiles, social discovery graphs, transactiondata, product data, etc. associated with registered merchants of thesocial discovery service. The social discovery service system maygenerate a merchant based group buying request that requests a certaindiscount on the product. The social discovery service system may providethe group buying request to the identified one or more merchants (viaassociated merchants systems 160A). The merchant(s) via merchant system160 may provide an indication that they agree or disagree with therequested group buying request. The indication may be provided to thesocial discovery service system or may be provided directly to each ofthe users in the group buying social discovery graph.

As described above, the disclosed embodiments include processes andsystems that provide a social discovery service that may provide socialdiscovery operations based on purchase transaction data, product data,location data, and other shopping characteristics of users. Thedisclosed embodiments include memory that stores transaction data,product data, and/or location data relating to purchase transactionsinvolving users and merchants. Exemplary memory may store thisinformation in data structures that may be usable by processingcomponents of the disclosed embodiments to perform social discoveryoperations and other operations consistent with the disclosedembodiments. In one example, the memory may be memory included infinancial service provider 110. The memory may also be a memory includedin a social discovery service system (e.g., system 130, 170, 510). Thememory may be memory in other components of systems 100, 200A, 200B,400, 500.

The social discovery profiles, social discovery graphs, socialcommunities, consumption profiles, and other social discoveryrelationships consistent with the disclosed embodiments are not limitedto the configuration, relationships, formats, and types exemplifiedabove. Instead, the disclosed embodiments may be configured to generate,edit, update, store, and/or modify social discovery relationships indifferent formats or configurations without departing from the scope ofthe exemplary embodiments disclosed herein.

Other embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art fromconsideration of the specification and practice of the disclosedembodiments. It is intended that the specification and examples beconsidered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of thedisclosed embodiments being indicated by the following claims.

For example, the disclosed embodiments may include systems and methodsthat enable users to discover other users based on each other's socialdiscovery graph (e.g., spend graphs for each user). In one example, asocial discovery service system consistent with disclosed embodiments(e.g., 130, 170, 510) may provide interface(s) that enable a user (e.g.,user 152A) to search for and identify other user(s) that have similarcharacteristics, such as similar spending traits. The exemplaryinterface(s) may provide search input mechanism(s) that allow the user(e.g., user 152A) to select or input one or more traits. In response tothe input, the social discovery service system may analyze the socialdiscovery graphs stored in memory and identify one or more users thatmeet the search criteria (e.g., user 152B). The social discovery servicesystem may generate and provide interface(s) (or other notifications orcommunication message(s)) that provide the results to the requestinguser (e.g., user 152A) that identify the other user(s) (e.g., user152A). In certain aspects, the result interface(s) may include the otheruser(s) contact information (e.g., email, phone numbers, etc.). Usersregistered with the social discovery service system may control whatinformation is provided to other users using the system in this manner(e.g., user 152A may register his account such that only an email isprovided to other user's of social discovery service system).

The disclosed embodiments may also provide systems and methods forproviding a social discovery subnetwork that interfaces with existingsocial network services (e.g., Facebook®, LinkedIn®, Yelp®, etc.). Inthese embodiments, users of existing social networks (e.g., Facebook®,LinkedIn®, Yelp®, etc.) may select and use social discovery servicefeatures consistent with the disclosed embodiments through a module orsimilar feature that is integrated with the existing social networksystem and interfaces. For example, a user of a social network service(e.g., Facebook®) may select an option (e.g., a social discovery servicesubnetwork option) presented on the interface for that social network(e.g., on the user's home page, such as a Facebook®, page) to performanalysis and searches similar to those described in connection with thesocial discovery service operations consistent with disclosedembodiments (e.g., provided by systems 130, 170, 510). In certainaspects, the system(s) providing the existing social network service(e.g., Facebook®, LinkedIn®, Yelp®, etc.) may be configured to performone or more operations of the social discovery service system(s)disclosed herein (e.g., may execute software that performs similaroperations). Alternatively, or in addition, the existing social networkservice (e.g., Facebook®, LinkedIn®, Yelp®, etc.) may be configured todirect requests to perform social discovery service operations viaoptions on the existing social network's webpage (e.g., home page for auser, etc.) to a social discovery service system consistent withdisclosed embodiments (e.g., 130, 170, 510). The social discoveryservice system may perform operations consistent with those disclosedabove. In one aspect, the social discovery service system may processrequests and provide results to the existing social network service(e.g., Facebook®, LinkedIn®, Yelp®, etc.) for presentation to therequesting user via the user's home page or interface(s) provided by theexisting social network service (e.g., Facebook®, LinkedIn®, Yelp®,etc.).

Moreover, one or more processes associated with the disclosedembodiments may be performed by one or more processors executingsoftware instructions. Some operations may be performed by a computingsystem(s) included with a social discovery service system, financialservice provider, social discovery service provider, merchant system,client, or a combination of these components. The disclosed embodimentsmay provide a social discovery service through one or more servers thatare configured to execute software instructions to provide one or moreonline portals (e.g., website, etc.) that are accessible using knownInternet or other network related communication mechanisms andprotocols. Moreover, the interfaces associated with the disclosedembodiments may be generated and provided by a server that is configuredto generate web-based other types of interfaces that include content,hyperlinks, and the like, known to one of ordinary skill in the art. Theinterfaces associated with the disclosed embodiments may be displayedvia on a display device included in a computing system associated withone or more of the social network discovery system, financial serviceprovider, merchants, or client systems disclosed herein. The componentsthat receive and display the interfaces associated with the disclosedembodiments may be rendered by software instructions executed by one ormore processors configured to generate and display such interfaces, asis known to those skilled in the art (e.g., browser software, mobiledevice display software, etc.)

Further, the disclosed embodiments may be agnostic to underlyingcommunication technology, including but not limited to: website or anyother online service, chat room, email, instant messaging service, textmessaging, voice messaging, etc. Thus, for example, the disclosedembodiments may provide social discovery service operations consistentwith disclosed embodiments through email communications, webpageinterfaces, portals, SMS, online discussion forums, etc.

The disclosed embodiments may provide social discovery between allcombinations of consumers and businesses (e.g., small businesses,advertisers, retailers, product manufacturers, service providers, etc.).For example, a social discovery service system consistent with disclosedembodiments (e.g., 130, 170, 510) may process social discovery servicerequests for individuals regarding business entities, or forrepresentatives of business entities regarding other business entitiesor individuals. For instance, the disclosed embodiments may provide P2Psocial discovery (e.g., relevant recommendations, reviews). For example,referring to FIG. 8, user 811 may recommend merchant M1 for user 812.The disclosed embodiments may also provide B2B social discovery (e.g.,business partnership opportunities). For example, again referring toFIG. 8, merchant M2 may contact and form a business relationship withmerchant M3 using the social discovery services provided by thedisclosed embodiments. One skilled in the art will understand thatprocesses performed by a merchant may be through one or more userrepresentatives of that merchant. The disclosed embodiments may alsoprovide B2C/C2B (business-to-customer/customer-to-business) socialdiscovery (e.g., targeted offers, employment opportunities). Forexample, again referring to FIG. 8, user 813 may receive a targetedoffer from merchant M3 and respond to the offer through the socialdiscovery service system (e.g., system 130, 170, 510). As anotherexample, user 813 may seek employment with a merchant (e.g., merchantM2) or business associated with a certain product brand that user 813actively purchases from or receives offers through the social discoveryservice mechanisms of the disclosed embodiments. In general, the socialdiscovery service features of the disclosed embodiments may provide anyone or two-way communication between consumers and businesses registeredwith the social discovery service.

Furthermore, although aspects of the disclosed embodiments are describedas being associated with data stored in memory and other tangiblecomputer-readable storage mediums, one skilled in the art willappreciate that these aspects can also be stored on and executed frommany types of tangible computer-readable media, such as secondarystorage devices, like hard disks, floppy disks, or CD-ROM, or otherforms of RAM or ROM. Accordingly, the disclosed embodiments are notlimited to the above described examples, but instead is defined by theappended claims in light of their full scope of equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for providingsocial discovery service operations via a social networking portal,comprising: receiving, by one or more processors of the socialnetworking portal, transaction data relating to a plurality of financialtransactions associated with a plurality of users, at least one of thefinancial transactions involving an online transaction; receiving, bythe one or more processors, product data identifying one or moreproducts included in the financial transactions, the product datacomprising stock keeping unit (SKU) data associated with the one or moreproducts; receiving Global Positioning System (GPS) location data of oneor more electronic devices associated with the plurality of users andassociated with the financial transactions; determining, based at leastin part on the transaction data, a level of trust between a user and theplurality of users; generating, by the one or more processors, a socialdiscovery profile for the plurality of users based on the transactiondata, the location data, and the product data, the social discoveryprofile reflecting shopping characteristics of the user in relation toshopping characteristics of the plurality of users and the level oftrust; receiving, from the user, a request for a crowdfunding event, therequest including a crowdfunding parameter; identifying, from theplurality of users, potential crowdfunding participants to participatein the crowdfunding event based on the location data, the crowdfundingparameter, the shopping characteristics, and the level of trust;notifying the user requesting crowdfunding of the potential crowdfundingparticipants; receiving instructions, from the user requestingcrowdfunding, to provide an offer notification to the potentialcrowdfunding participants; and transmitting the offer notification tothe potential crowdfunding participants.
 2. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, further comprising: generating, based on the socialdiscovery profiles, a social discovery graph reflecting characteristicsof the user in relation to characteristics of one or more of theplurality of users.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2,wherein identifying potential crowdfunding participants is further basedon the social discovery graph.
 4. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein identifying potential crowdfunding participants isfurther based on consumption patterns of the plurality of users.
 5. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the crowdfundingparameter comprises at least one of a product, a characteristic, ahabit, a consumption pattern, or a trait.
 6. A system for providing asocial discovery service, comprising: a social networking portalcomprising one or more memory devices storing software instructions, andone or more processors configured to execute the software instructionsto: receive transaction data relating to a plurality of financialtransactions associated with a plurality of users, at least one of thefinancial transactions involving an online transaction; receive productdata identifying one or more products included in the financialtransactions, the product data comprising stock keeping unit (SKU) dataassociated with the one or more products; receive Global PositioningSystem (GPS) location data of one or more electronic devices associatedwith the plurality of users and associated with the financialtransactions; determine, based at least in part on the transaction data,a level of trust between a user and the plurality of users; generate asocial discovery profile for the plurality of users based on thetransaction data, the location data, and the product data, the socialdiscovery profile reflecting shopping characteristics of the user inrelation to shopping characteristics of the plurality of users and thelevel of trust; receive, from the user, a request for a crowdfundingevent, the request including a crowdfunding parameter; identify, fromthe plurality of users, potential crowdfunding participants toparticipate in the crowdfunding event based on the location data, thecrowdfunding parameter, the shopping characteristics, and the level oftrust; notify the user requesting crowdfunding of the potentialcrowdfunding participants; receive instructions, from the userrequesting crowdfunding, to provide an offer notification to thepotential crowdfunding participants; and transmit the offer notificationto the potential crowdfunding participants.
 7. The system of claim 6,wherein the processors are further configured to execute the softwareinstructions to: generate, based on the social discovery profiles, asocial discovery graph reflecting characteristics of the user inrelation to characteristics of one or more of the plurality of users. 8.The system of claim 7, wherein identifying potential crowdfundingparticipants is further based on the social discovery graph.
 9. Thesystem of claim 6, wherein identifying potential crowdfundingparticipants is further based on consumption patterns of the pluralityof users.
 10. The system of claim 6, wherein the crowdfunding parametercomprises at least one of a product, a characteristic, a habit, aconsumption pattern, or a trait.
 11. A computer-implemented method forproviding social discovery service operations via a social networkingportal, comprising: receiving, by one or more processors of the socialnetworking portal, transaction data relating to a plurality of financialtransactions associated with a plurality of users, at least one of thefinancial transactions involving an online transaction; receiving, bythe one or more processors, product data identifying one or moreproducts included in the financial transactions, the product datacomprising stock keeping unit (SKU) data associated with the one or moreproducts; receiving Global Positioning System (GPS) location data of oneor more electronic devices associated with the plurality of users andassociated with the financial transactions; determining, based at leastin part on the transaction data, a level of trust between a user and theplurality of users; generating, by the one or more processors, a socialdiscovery profile for the plurality of users based on the transactiondata, the location data, and the product data, the social discoveryprofile reflecting shopping characteristics of the user in relation toshopping characteristics of the plurality of users and the level oftrust; receiving, from the user, a request for a crowdfunding event, therequest comprising crowdfunding parameters associated with thecrowdfunding event; analyzing the social discovery profiles to identify,from the plurality of users, potential crowdfunding participants toparticipate in the crowdfunding event, based on the crowdfundingparameters, the shopping characteristics, and the level of trust;notifying the user requesting crowdfunding of the potential crowdfundingparticipants; receiving instructions, from the user requestingcrowdfunding, to provide an offer notification to the potentialcrowdfunding participants; and transmitting the offer notification tothe potential crowdfunding participants.
 12. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 11, further comprising: generating, based on the socialdiscovery profiles, a social discovery graph reflecting characteristicsof the user in relation to other users; wherein identifying potentialcrowdfunding participants comprises identifying the potentialcrowdfunding participants based on the social discovery graph.